For women students in Pune, an elusive hunt for a home away from home

Pilare is just one among the thousands of women students who arrive in Pune to pursue higher studies, only to find that finding a place to stay is no easy task.

“I applied at a government hostel outside but the result came too late, after the end of my first semester. As I could not find anything else, I joined a private hostel in Katraj even though my college is in Shivajinagar. I would end up missing one or two morning classes every day because it took so long to travel,” she adds. Pilare said the experience made her rethink her decision to come so far away from home.

Vaishnavi Yawale can relate. A second-year undergraduate student from Nagpur, Yawale recently shifted to a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Shivajinagar. It was becoming hectic to travel to college, which is about 12 km away from her relative’s place in Vishrantwadi, she says.

“You need at least a month to find a proper PG which matches your budget. Usually, it costs at least Rs 10,000 for a bed in a room that you share with two or three girls. Many PGs in this area do not provide food so you also have to look for a mess separately,” says Yawale.

Some of the PG accommodations for women are located in prime, and therefore relatively expensive areas, especially in Shivajinagar, Fergusson College Road, Law College Road and SB Road areas. “Most of the boys’ PGs here are located slightly far and in low-income neighbourhoods or slums which would not be okay for girls. We see that girls often have higher paying capacity than boys,” said Sarojini Patil. She is the owner of Swamini Girls PG, one of the several PG accommodations for women near Fergusson College.

“You have to provide a lot of security for girls whereas there are no such issues for boys. Every night we take attendance and in case someone is not back, we call up their parents. We cannot let them go during holidays until we receive permission from their parents. There are many such things…,” she says.

“The PG is a space only for ladies,” said Madhav Sathe, who runs a PG in her bungalow in Deccan Gymkhana. “When a student comes to look at the PG, we ask them to bring along their mother or a woman relative. We do not allow any fathers or men inside the premises. Even my own husband and son are not allowed on that floor,” Sathe adds.

Swarali Sawale, a 22-year-old from Pandharpur who stays in a PG in Pune, feels that such measures are excessive and limiting. “We have to be back at my PG at 9 pm otherwise the PG owner will start calling our parents. Where is the time to explore the city? They constantly keep a watch on us, on what we are wearing, where we are going and who we are meeting,” says the engineering student. “Even my father was not allowed to enter the PG when we had to finalise it!”

“You will rarely find any PG for women students where they do not have such rules. Sometimes there is no option but to follow these restrictions. My parents were already quite hesitant to send me to another city to study,” pitches in her friend, who stays at the same hostel.

Meanwhile, Pilare has shifted to another private hostel at Gokhale Nagar, a 30-minute walk away from her college. “They charge us for the food but there is neither quality nor quantity. I go outside to eat at a mess. Often there is no water for two days at a stretch…because of this, it has become extremely hard to continue here,” she says.

“Often I have to walk back to my hostel at around 9 pm from my extra classes and that can be scary. I was once harassed and it was shocking to see that nobody on the street helped me. I was scared but kept going because I did not want to stop the classes,” she adds.

Pilare says her family recently watched the viral video where a girl was attacked with a machete in Sadashiv Peth. “They got very scared and began asking me to forget my studies and just come back home safe. Why should I have to choose?” she asks.